Start a Uptown Cheapskate Franchise in 2025

2025 Franchise 500 Rank: #249 Ranked #299 last year

Initial investment: $328K - $597K

Units as of 2025: 152 49.0% over 3 years

Uptown Cheapskate is an upscale retailer with a twist. The first Uptown Cheapskate store opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2008. Now, the company has more than 75 locations across the country. The business is family-owned and anchors around a solid reseller clothing concept that allows customers to purchase near-new fashion items at thrift prices. Instead of following the traditional method of consigning clothes, the store buys lightly used fashion garments and accessories and sells them for a fraction of their regular prices.

Why You May Want to Start an Uptown Cheapskate Franchise

If you're a franchisee looking to provide a service to your community, Uptown Cheapskate may be the investment for you. The concept is a fantastic way to recycle clothes, keeping them out of landfills. It also helps communities save cash. Additionally, the store supports school-building initiatives in developing countries through bi-annual sales.

Uptown Cheapskate has also established a business model that keeps the store easy to manage, scalable, and sustainable outside its social value. The company strives to provide top-tier support for franchisees, ensuring they get all the help they need from day one. Because of this, a franchisee doesn't need experience in retail, just a willingness to work within the company's model and a passion for their business.

The culture of Uptown Cheapskate revolves around giving back. Because of this, the company encourages franchisees to choose the local charities their store supports.

What Might Make Uptown Cheapskate a Good Choice?

Multiple times in the past few years, Uptown Cheapskate has been ranked in BIZ Experiences's Franchise 500 based on an evaluation of more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

Just because Uptown Cheapskate is an upscale retail franchise doesn't mean it's expensive to own. In fact, Uptown Cheapskate is one of the cheaper brands in the resale business. A franchisee may take advantage of these lower costs and a resale industry that may exceed the fashion industry over time.

How to Open an Uptown Cheapskate Franchise

To be part of the Uptown Cheapskate team, you should make sure you're financially ready for an initial investment, including a franchise fee and potential startup fees. Franchisees should also expect to contend with royalty fees and advertising fees, as well as a potential renewal fee.

Consider the location in which you'd want to open your Uptown Cheapskate. If there are income discrepancies in your area, it may be nice to provide part of the community with a more affordable retail option. Millennials and Gen Z are making strides to reduce the fashion impact on the environment. With this effort, they are buying more second-hand clothing options. Because of this, you may find success near a university campus, where students may not be making full-time income.

Once you have decided the franchise is right for you and they see you have the financial background they're looking for, you will go through a thorough training program. It won't be until you complete inventory training that you'll be able to open the doors to your franchise.

Company Overview

About Uptown Cheapskate

Industry	Retail
Related Categories	Apparel & Accessories, Miscellaneous Children's Businesses
Founded	2008
Parent Company	BaseCamp Franchising
Leadership	Tyler Gordon, CEO
Corporate Address	39 E. Eagle Ridge Dr., #100 North Salt Lake, UT 84054
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube

Business Overview

Franchising Since	2008 (17 years)
# of employees at HQ	66
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises in the following international regions: Canada
# of Units	152 (as of 2025)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Uptown Cheapskate franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$25,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$328,002 - $596,502
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$200,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$100,000
Veteran Incentives Definition: A discount or other incentive offered to military veterans who buy a franchise with this company.	20% off franchise fee
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	5%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	0.5%
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

Third Party Financing	Uptown Cheapskate has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	55 hours
Classroom Training	46 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Lease Negotiation Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	5-9
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes